CHAPTER TWO
EILISH
The Castle in the Sky
This moment… that’s all I am aware of.
There is no past nor future as a warm glow begins to unfurl in me. I push back against Baron’s thrusts, my hips moving in a rhythm I have no control over. He bites down on my shoulder and sucks in my blood as I explode. A million galaxies roil within my soul and I feel his strength fill me up.
I push Baron off with a surge of power I didn’t know I had. He falls back, looking at me in surprise. I sense the same surprise, but I can’t tarry on it long because the Succubus is still in control and she’s demanding.
She isn’t finished with him yet.
Baron chuckles as I push him down against the stone floor. I climb him once more, lowering myself onto his length. He reaches up and wraps his hand around my throat as a reminder that he’s permitting me to assert my control over him. But I can tell he appreciates this forceful side of me, at the same time, even if he feels the need to confront it. I grind against his stomach, rubbing my clit into him as I chase that blissful wave of pleasure that causes tingles to spread through the marrow in my bones. He holds me upright by my hips and then repeatedly thrusts into me, meeting the roll of my hips perfectly.
“Do it,” he says. “Take what you want.”
I lift a brief second and brace my hands beside his head and throw myself into a swift release. Baron shouts. His face sags with an expression of pure agony and it’s blissful. He claims my lips with a snarl and it’s as if a dam breaks as he releases himself within me, flooding my insides with his seed.
***
BARON
The enticing ambiance of darkness sweeps through me with a blind fury. Eilish clings to my shoulders in the aftermath of our destructive coupling. I imagine the others are still unconscious in the cell beside ours. But, even if they aren’t, I don’t care.
The bars between us and then are still bathed in darkness and I can’t see anything or anyone. Which is just as well—the only person I’m interested in at the moment is Eilish. She kisses the spot where my neck and jaw meet, causing my cock to twitch inside her. She gives a little shudder and smiles. I see the same darkness in her that journeys through my veins.
“Up,” I demand. She raises off my lap slowly, but doesn’t move away.
She surprises me by dipping low and pulling my softening erection out of her body. She smiles as I watch her with an unbridled yearning. The way she licks her lips and tucks me into my trousers is too much. I look away, lest we find ourselves in a similar situation. But, now is not the time for more fucking. Now, is the moment to figure out how to get out of this fucking prison.
I feel strong.
Much stronger than I did before I drank her. This is what her blood does to me—it fortifies me, fills me up with a strength I’ve never known before.
She adjusts her clothing and sits beside me. The healthy flush on her cheeks is beguiling.
“What will Dragan think?” My words are meant to be shrugged off, but I see how she stiffens. She cares about the gargoyle and she cares about what he thinks of her, much though I wish she wouldn’t and didn’t.
The gargoyle views her as something to be caged. I’m quite sure he’d neuter her of her Succubae powers if the opportunity ever presented itself. I wish to nurture that darkness inside of her and watch it flourish.
She turns her gaze back to mine and I grasp a strand of her hair when it arrests my attention. The strand is pure black in the midst of her long, white tresses. She plucks the strand from my fingers and scrunches her brow in confusion.
“What happened?” she asks in a quiet tone.
“You fed.”
“Why would feeding turn my hair black?”
I shrug. “I assume the Succubus will grow more dominant each time you succumb to the hunger.” I lean my head against the wall and close my eyes.
“What will happen if I don’t feed?”
“You’d die.”
I peek over at Eilish as she worryingly looks at the strand of hair between her fingers.
“Are you sure?”
I nod. “It would be a horrible way to go and I wouldn’t recommend testing it.”
“Why horrible?”
“Because it would be slow.”
“How slow?”
“First, you’d become so exhausted, you wouldn’t be able to move. And then the pain. After that, a sweltering fever would plunge you in and out of consciousness. Your pheromones would become so strong that any male in the area would be affected by the scent. It would force them to serve you whether they wanted to or not.”
“And if a man wasn’t around?”
“Then the fever would spread to your brain and you’d die.”
“What if I... relieved myself?” she asks with a tinge of embarrassment lacing her words. Part of me is disappointed that she continues to make war with this side of herself. But I realize I must exercise patience. After all, she’s only just realized what she is.
“Feeding must come from a male life force.”
“How do you know this?”
I shrug again. “I’ve studied shadow magic as well as shadow creatures. As an assassin, it’s important I understand those I’m up against.”
“But there are no more Succubae,” she argues, shaking her head. “Aside from me. So why study them?”
I nod. “True, but better to be prepared than not, correct? And, I’ll admit, the Succubus has always intrigued me.”
“Why?”
“A creature fully driven by her own sexual appetite and need?” I respond with another shrug. “What’s not to find interesting?”
She nods but seems disturbed, at the same time. I flinch away when she reaches for my hand, but she hunts it down and tangles our fingers together. I hear shuffling from the cell beside ours and watch as Cambion lights another torch within his.
When we make eye contact, Cambion stings me with a look of pure loathing. It brings a smile to my face as I stand up and walk over to the bars. Even though my trousers are back around my waist, I don’t bother buttoning them. Let the asshole know I’ve had just fucked Eilish—I don’t care.
I wrap my hands around the iron bars and immediately feel the magic reinforcing them. I try to reach my arm through, pushing past the magic but, as I do, it feels as if my arm is being shredded into pieces, even as I know such isn’t actually happening. Regardless, I can’t take the pain and I pull my hand back. When I inspect it, I find blood beneath my nail beds.
“How strong are these walls?” I ask Cambion.
He ignores me and begins pacing his cell, whispering spells under his breath. I shake my head and look from the barred wall up at the ceiling. “Where the hell is the damn door?”
“Ain’t no windows, neither,” I hear the sprite’s voice, but I can’t see him. He might be in Dragan’s cell that isn’t in view from mine.
“Nothin’ but these bars,” the sprite continues, in that nasally and whiny tone of his. “How they ‘pose to get inside? Fuck, how’d we get inside?”
Then I see him beside Cambion. The two pace the cell, Flumph leaving behind tiny footprints in the dust. I feel a smile on my mouth—of the four of us, I believe Cambion dislikes the sprite most. Fitting he should end up with the little bastard as a cellmate.
Suddenly a door opens from the far end of the hallway, shedding light into the dungeon. I’m able to see more of the prison and I realize there’s one main hall with cells to the left and cells to the right. Eilish and I share a cell at the end of the hallway and Cambion’s cell is just beside us, to the left.
Maybe owing to a rude awakening from the light, I hear a growl from one of the front cells and I watch as Dragan appears in front of the prison bars. He glances to his right and then his left, spotting Eilish and then me. When he first sees her, relief washes over his face, but once he realizes we’re imprisoned together, his expression transforms into one of anger. No doubt he can see her rumpled clothing and with his expert sense of smell, he can probably scent the sex still hovering in the air.
“You son of a..,” he starts as he glares at me.
But he’s interrupted when three or more soldiers walk through the door. They ignore Cambion and Dragan, with their eyes focused solely on Eilish.
“You,” the first soldier says while pointing at her. “You’re coming with us.”
I move to stand in front of her as they march down the short hall.
“Why?” she asks, her voice betraying her fear.
“Variant requests your company,” one of them answers.
“What’s he gonna do with her?” Flumph yells.
“What do you think?” one of the guards responds, his lip lifting with a sneer.
“No,” Dragan shouts as he wraps his hands around the bars and gets a sizable shock for his trouble.
The soldier closest to the cell waves what appears to be an iron key across the face of the prison bars. In response, the bars begin to glow and he places the key into a lock I can’t see, cranking it to the left. The bars in front of us suddenly dissolve into thin air with a hissing sound that ricochets around the entire cell, making it sound as though the walls are suddenly closing in on us.
The sound distracts me, and the soldiers use the momentary diversion to their advantage. The guard closest to us unleashes something that appears to be a glowing orb from between his hands and the power hits me square in my chest. The magic is so powerful, the orb throws me backwards until I hit my head against the stone wall behind me and I’m then knocked on my ass. Instantly the soldiers surround Eilish, one grabbing her from either side as she attempts to fight them off. But she’s easily overpowered, and I’ve been struck dumb by the strength of the orb.
“Remember what you are, Eilish!” Dragan yells as the soldiers pull her from the cell. She kicks and squirms, but there’s no way she can free herself. She must soon realize this for she stops fighting and goes limp as they carry her between them. I wonder what Variant has in mind. I have a fairly good idea—to kill her of course. No doubt, he’ll sample her body first.
And there’s not a fucking thing anyone of us can do about it.
The last soldier to exit my cell secures the prison bars behind him with simply a nod. The iron bars reappear as I struggle to regain my wits. Whatever power hit me is strong and I feel as helpless as an infant.
“You’re powerful! Don’t forget that!” Dragan yells at Eilish’s retreating figure. Moments later, she disappears through the door and it closes behind her, leaving us to our solitude of darkness.
I regain my composure and force myself to my knees. Then, using the stone wall for support, I pull myself up until I’m standing.
Eilish will soon be dead, I think to myself. And we’ll be next.
“Fuck!” I yell as I bash my fists into the stone, tearing open my knuckles and streaking the wall with blood.
She can’t die like this! I scream at myself. I was supposed to protect her! Fuck!
Flumph flies upward and then attempts to wedge himself between the bars, but the reinforcement wards zap him, and he falls to the ground. After that, he doesn’t move. I wonder if the shock has killed him. Cambion reaches over and nudges him and, as I watch, Flumph’s eyes flutter open, even as he shudders in pain.
***
DRAGAN
None of us speaks a word at first. There’s really nothing to say.
I feel a cold void deep within me at the thought of what Variant is going to do to Eilish. He’ll kill her. I have no doubt. And the truth of that hard reality eats me, sucks away my breath and leaves me feeling like I want to die, myself.
“What will he do to her?” Cambion asks, his voice low and haunted.
“You already know the answer,” I respond, not in the mood to make pointless conversation.
“Do you think he knows she still possesses her angel wings?” he presses.
“How the fuck should I know?”
I’m in a foul mood. I can’t help it. I’m scared for Eilish—I’m worried about what Variant will do to her. And there’s rage inside me towards Variant that I haven’t felt in a very long time—not since I saw him standing on the battlefield beside Lamia, both of them laughing at me.
But, I’m not angry with Variant only. At the same time, I can’t help but feel angry for another reason altogether.
“If he doesn’t realize she’s an intact angel, she might still have a chance,” Cambion continues.
Flumph moans from the ground beside Cambion. He glances down at the sprite and shakes his head. There isn’t anything Cambion can do for him. The creature has been blasted by powerful magic. He either survives or he doesn’t.
“And why the fuck do you think she might still have a chance?” I demand, suddenly hating him for giving me hope. Hope has no place down here in the depths of this shithole. Truthfully, hope died the second we stepped foot in here.
Cambion shrugs. “Eilish is not a threat to Variant if he believes she’s without her wings.”
“Yet, he’s ordered that all angels should be returned to him, even if they possess the marks,” I argue. Marks that prove their wings have been amputated. Eilish possesses the marks but they’re a farce because she also still has her wings.
“If he learns she’s Succubus, she also might have a chance,” Cambion continues.
“How do you figure?” I demand. “Because he fucked Lamia for as long as he did?” Lamia, the Succubus bitch who made my life a living hell for far too long.
“Succubae are powerful,” Cambion argues. “And Variant knows that. If he found out she was Succubus, maybe he’d decide to use her power.”
“Or maybe he’d just decide to kill her faster,” I spit back.
“It was a fair point,” Cambion insists.
“It’s all just hypotheticals,” I grumble. “The only thing we can count on is that not one of us knows what the fuck Variant’s going to do to her.”
I notice with interest that Revenant remains quiet. The fucker.
Cambion doesn’t respond and it’s just as well because his voice causes me to want to shove a pick straight through my ears. But Cambion isn’t the reason I’m so short-fused. No, there’s another reason altogether…
I can still smell Eilish. Her scent hovers in the air, toying with me.
And it’s not just the scent of her skin, her hair, her body. It’s the scent of her wetness, her desire. I already know the sweet perfume of her sex well. And now it haunts me, fucks with my head. I smelled her fragrance from the moment I regained consciousness.
Revenant has had her.
It’s a grim truth but, nevertheless, one I must face.
And I suddenly hate Revenant from the depths of my being. I was never fond of him before, true, but now I can vouch for a hatred towards him that scorches my heart.
He took what was mine.
And he will suffer for it.
“You fucked her,” I say the words to him as if they’re a verdict.
Revenant licks the blood off his fingers as he glances at me with indifference. He shrugs.
He was the last one to have her. And now… Now…
I can’t finish the thought.
“Don’t look so aggrieved, Dragan,” he says with feigned disinterest. “You made it quite obvious that your claim on her was temporary. I only regret not acting sooner.”
I bare my teeth at the vile creature, which only amuses him further. “My claim on her wasn’t temporary.”
“Hmm, funny way you have of showing you care then.”
“You know why I can’t give in to my urges, you prick,” I glare at him with clenched teeth.
“No, actually I don’t,” the asshole says.
“What’s the point of this conversation?” Cambion interrupts. “Need I remind you both that Eilish is probably being subjected to death at this very moment? The least you can do is show some compassion.”
His words weigh heavy on me and I can’t bear them. It’s easier to argue with Revenant because then I don’t have to envision what could be happening to Eilish. And whatever her fate is, it’s a truth I can’t swallow.
“Eilish is Succubus,” I force the words out. “That’s reason enough for me to keep my distance from her.”
“Why?” Revenant continues. “Because you had a bad run with your first Succubus, and it scarred you forever after?” His tone is syrupy, overloaded with sarcasm.
If he were in this cell with me, I’d kill the fucker.
“You don’t understand what it’s like to live your life, day in and day out, subjected to the whims of someone else.” I take a breath, even as I wonder why the fuck I’m bothering to explain this to him. He doesn’t care and I don’t care if he cares. “You don’t understand what it feels like to be robbed of your life force and your sanity, to be forced to fuck not just one demon you detest, but three of them.”
“No, I don’t,” Revenant responds, his tone of voice icy. “I just know what it feels like to be forced from the grave with no idea why or how.”
“Will the two of you fucking stop feeling sorry for yourselves, for Chrissakes?” Cambion interrupts. “You both had it bad, okay? But now we need to focus on how the fuck we’re going to get out of here.”
I laugh at the absurdity of Cambion’s comment. “You think we’re getting out of here? Where the fuck is your brain?”
Flumph sits up and looks directly at me. “What you gonna do ‘bout the angel?” His voice sounds pained and jagged. That magical blast he suffered clearly did a number on him.
“There’s nothing to be done,” I say with a sigh as I retreat to the back of the cell. I need to get away from the lot of them, but there’s nowhere to go. Maybe that’s Variant’s plan—to force each of us into our own hell—a hell entirely devised around being unable to escape each other’s company.
“For the love o’,” the sprite continues. “Never mind… one o’ yous gonna have to do somethin’. We can’t just sit here with our thumbs shoved up our butts, waitin’ for King Dickhead to kill us.”
Revenant speaks up. “There’s nothing to be done.”
“Soze you just givin’ up?” Flumph insists. “Just like that?”
“We are sitting ducks,” Revenant continues.
“The magic at work in this place is much stronger than I would have anticipated,” Cambion agrees. “Yet, every enchantment has a failsafe,” he continues. His voice grates on my nerves.
“What you talkin’ about?” Flumph insists.
“In case the caster is killed, his or her handiwork must be able to be undone by someone within his tribe,” Cambion continues. “It’s a rule in magic that all accomplished sorcerers live by.”
“Then we gotta find us that failsafe!”
“Dragan...” Cambion says, clearly expecting my help.
I think it’s a waste of time but I don’t utter a word. It’s not as though there’s anything else to do, other than wonder what the fuck Variant is doing to Eilish and if she’s experiencing pain in the process. It’s a thought that absolutely wrecks me so I extend the feelers of my shadow magic, allowing them to leach out of me and surge forward. Each tendril of shadow snakes around the prison cell, inspecting every crevice for any sign of the antidote to the magic at work here.
I feel nothing. I open my eyes and see Revenant contenting himself by leaning against the wall, clearly doing nothing. It’s as if he doesn’t care if we get out of here or not. “Don’t you feel the need to escape?” I demand, irritated with his existence.
“I don’t feel anything,” he responds.
“Well, do the rest of us a favor and look for the failsafe.”
“What’s the fucking point?”
“Getting out is the fucking point.”
He stands up straighter and stares around the dungeon for a moment or two before his eyes settle on mine again. “There. I helped. Happy now?”
I turn my back on the surly bastard and run my hand along the grooves in the corners of the stone, feeling for a draft of air or something that might hint at a way out.
“Well we ain’t the only ones who been in here,” Flumph says as he tosses a large bone at Cambion’s feet. “That a demon or somethin’ else big an’ ugly.”
The guttural groan that escapes my lips is entirely instinctual and appropriate for the extent of annoyance I feel. Yes, mainly annoyance with myself.
I should have done something at the point when the soldiers walked into the room, I tell myself. Instead, I failed her. Just like I failed Thoradin. And now myself.
“This be all elfs’s fault,” Flumph announces as he glares up at Cambion. The little shit has big balls, I’ll give him that much.
“What’s my fault?” Cambion insists.
“This whole fuckin’ mess!” Flumph responds. “It was your friend that told them soldiers where we were anyhow.”
Cambion attempts to stomp on the little creature but it moves out of his way.
“What? Can’t handle the truth, faerie ?” I ask because the idiotic sprite has it right, for once. It is Cambion’s fault that we’re in this fucking mess. It’s his fault that Eilish is dead and if not yet, will be soon.
“What fucking truth?” Cambion demands as he approaches the bars and glares at me.
“Has it crossed your thick skull that we should never have come back to the Fae realm? That we should never have gone to Earlann when we knew Variant’s men were all over your realm?” I start. “I told you it would blow up in our fucking faces.”
“Because your plans have worked so well for us so far,” Cambion chuckles dryly. “You would have gotten us killed a long time ago if I hadn’t stepped in and taken the role of leader.”
“And just how would I have gotten us killed?” I demand.
“I seem to remember the last time you were in charge, do you? If not, I’ll remind you—we lost the fucking war to fucking Variant because you couldn’t keep your fucking dick to yourself.”
“That be why the war was lost?” Flumph interrupts, sounding surprised and confused at the same time.
I take a page from Revenant’s book and plonk my ass in the corner of my cell, losing myself in the darkness.